by Melanie Griffin
Other Duties As Assigned M
r. K greeted Kelly on her first day, smiling through the neat beard she recognized from her job interview.
It had been the two of them in his office. Kelly had felt at ease until his last question. “You don’t have any experience with data management?” She managed to say what she’d been practicing since she’d gotten a callback. “A lot of my skills are very transferable.” Then her mind went blank, so she let out a nervous chuckle. “And, uh, I definitely know the alphabet …” Her confidence withered under Mr. K’s gaze. His beard said nothing for the longest minute of Kelly’s life. She and Natalia both needed this job. “We’re looking for someone we can rely on.” His eyes sought hers. “Can you handle that?” Kelly had thought of her wife and said, “Yes.” So, here she was, setting her bag down next to a short, middleaged woman with glasses. Mr. K introduced her as Rose, and as they were showing Kelly how to set up her station, a man in Birkenstocks breezed in. “Fresh meat! Excellent.” His hands, which he had been rubbing together like a cartoon villain, wilted under the combined glares of Mr. K and Rose. “What? I kid, I kid.” Mr. K said, “Jake, why don’t you show Kelly the vault?” “Will do.” Jake gestured for Kelly to follow him, and of course, she did. *** They descended into a long, dark room full of hulking shapes that didn’t reveal themselves until Jake made his way down the first aisle. Kelly’s nerve endings tuned up to warn her of the first sign of trouble. Jake nudged the side of a shelf with his toes. “You gotta watch these things. They creep.” Kelly nodded.
face. She could only stand and point and make a noise she’d never heard before. Jake laughed and yanked it out from between closed shelves. It was a human arm, neatly severed from whomever had been desperately trying to claw their way out— Jake tossed and caught it like a baton. “So real, isn’t it?” He lobbed it to Kelly. Her hands told her it was plaster, painted skin and gore. Her heart slowly calmed. Jake saw the look hadn’t left her face. “Annual tradition around here. Happy Halloween!” Kelly willed herself to smile. It wasn’t Jake’s fault Natalie would have to go solo to the LGBTQ+ center’s party next week. And that WAS a really well-painted arm. *** Mr. K drew her aside before she left on October 30. “Are you ready for your first midnight shift?” Kelly had said yes. When she went in the next day, she saw nothing unusual except the number of rings Rose wore. “Happy full moon!” she said, brandishing her pewter at Kelly. Soon after Kelly arrived, the others started leaving. The luxury of working without anyone looking over her shoulder covered the next few hours like a plush carpet. And then something massive groaned underneath her feet. Kelly thought about ignoring it. But what if the foundation was crumbling, and she didn’t say anything, and the whole damn place collapsed overnight? These fears overtook the ones tingling at the base of her spine, and she stood up. She placed the ‘BACK SOON’ plaque on her side of the desk. She made her way to the basement staircase.
“Let’s head back upstairs," he said. “That’s where the real action is.”
It was dark, of course. Kelly’s internal map of the place had solidified over her last few shifts, but when the lights still hadn’t blinked on at the end of the first aisle, it started to dissolve.
Some familiar shape caught the corner of Kelly’s eye. When she turned to look at it full-on, the blood drained from her
Her throat dried and closed. Her feet had automatically propelled her to the doublewide, center row that gave her a view of all
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